Monday, November 11, 2013

The Koch brothers-funded Generation Opportunity — famous for its series ofover-the-top advertisements trying to scare young Americans into not buying health coverage through Obamacare’s insurance marketplaces — took its opposition to health care reform to a whole new level on Saturday. The groupthrew a tailgate party during the University of Miami-Virginia Tech football that featured flashy cars, drinking games, models, a DJ, and plenty of “educational” material about why young people shouldn’t take advantage of Obamacare.

“We rolled in with a fleet of Hummers, F-150’s and Suburbans, each vehicle equipped with an 8’ high balloon bouquet floating overhead. We hired a popular student DJ from UMiami (DJ Joey), set up OptOut cornhole sets, *beer pong tables, bought 75 pizzas, and hired 8 ‘brand ambassadors’ aka models with bullhorns to help out,” wrote David Pasch, Generation Opportunity’s communication director, in en email to the Tampa Bay Times. “*Student activists independently brought (lots of) beer and liquor for consumption by those 21 and over. Oh yeah, and we educated students about their healthcare options outside the expensive and creepy Obamacare exchanges.”

The tailgate party’s fun-and-games atmosphere is a departure from the doom-and-gloom ambiance of its “Creepy Uncle Sam” ads. One such advertisement features a young woman going in for a Pap smear, only to be greeted by Creepy Uncle Sam leering over her with a speculum.

This won’t be the last time Generation Opportunity throws this kind of event, either. The group is touring 20 different campuses this fall in a $750,000 effort to convince college students that they’re better off being uninsured than getting health coverage through Obamacare.

In reality, about 6.4 million Americans — many of them young people — will be able to buy affordable insurance with robust benefits through the Obamacare marketplaces for less than $100 per month.